Heather Harper

Heather Harper was widely thought to be the most distinguished soprano ever to come from Northern Ireland. Her prolific recording output and many appearances in operas and classical concert works showed her to be a versatile and engaging soprano who was much sought after. She began her musical training in Northern Ireland before studying piano at Trinity College of Music in London, with voice as her second study. Initially training as a mezzo-soprano with Helen Isepp and Frederic Husler, she went on to study with Yvonne Rodd-Marling and as her voice developed, became a soprano. She began her career with the Ambrosian Chorus and the BBC Chorus and in 1956 joined the English Opera Group, of which she was a member until 1975. Harper's first major concert role was in the premiere of Britten's 'War Requiem' in Coventry Cathedral in 1962. The cathedral was rebuilt and re-consecrated after it had been destroyed by bombing during the Second World War. Britten, a pacifist, decided that as a gesture of peace between nations the solo singers for the premiere would be Peter Pears, the English tenor, Dietrich Fischer-Deskau, the German baritone, and Galina Vishevskaya, the Russian soprano. Vishevskaya was refused permission to travel by the Soviet Government ten days before the concert, so Harper stepped in to great acclaim. Harper's operatic debut at the Royal Opera House was as Helena in Britten's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' in 1962. She went on to perform many roles for the company including premiering the roles of Mrs Coyle in Britten's 'Owen Wingrave' (1970) and Nadia in Tippett's 'The Ice Break' (1977). She appeared annually at the Royal Opera House from 1963, taking on roles such as Blanche in Poulenc's 'Dialogues des Carmélites', Antonia in Offenbach's 'Les Contes d'Hoffmann', Gutrune in Wagner's 'Götterdämmerung', Micaëla in Bizet's 'Carmen', and several Strauss roles including the title role in 'Arabella', Chrysothemis in 'Elektra', Empress in 'Die Frau ohne Schatten' and Prima Donna/Ariadne in 'Ariadne auf Naxos'. In addition to roles at the Royal Opera House, Harper performed worldwide, including performances at The Glyndebourne Festival, San Francisco Opera, The Metropolitan Opera in New York, Deutsche Oper in Berlin, La Scala in Milan, The Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and Elsa in Wagner's 'Lohengrin' with conductor Rudolf Kempe at the Bayreuth Festival, Germany in 1967. A recording was later released by Orfeo of this performance. As a concert artist, Harper also performed works by many notable composers. She sang in the second UK performance of Delius's 'Requiem' in 1965 and then later made the world premier recording of the work. Another highlight in her concert career was performing Strauss's 'Vier Letzte Lieder' in 1969 with the Conductor Rudolfe Kempe and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Harper's discography is extensive, including recordings of seminal classical works such us Mahler's Eighth Symphony with Sir George Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on the Decca Label. She also recorded Beethoven's 'Missa Solemnis' with Carlo Maria Giulini and Mendelssohn's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' with Otto Klemperer, both on EMI. She recorded Bach's 'St. John's Passion' with Britten conducting, two Vaughan Williams Symphonies with André Previn and the premiere recording of Tippett's Third Symphony with George Solti. In 1985, Harper performed in the world premiere of Malcolm Williamson's song cycle 'Next Year in Jerusalem' to great critical acclaim. Her final concert performance was at the BBC Proms in London in 1994, where she sang Berg's 'Altenberglieder' with Sir Simon Rattle and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Vaughan Williams' 'Serenade to Music' with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. Harper's technical ability and lightness of tone made her an exceptional singer of English lyrical repertory, and as her voice developed with a richness of tone she became more suited to weightier roles. She will be remembered as a brilliantly versatile musician.

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